Chicken pachamanca with yellow cuzco corn and Pisco-infused prunes

Robert Ortiz's chicken recipe is bursting with colour and flavour from its trio of sauces – deep red achiote oil, aromatic orange pachamanca and spicy yellow huancaina – and finished with Pisco-infused prunes for a wonderfully sweet and sour kick. All the elements for this recipe can be made in advance, making this a fantastic dinner party dish – the prune-infused Pisco can even be used for cocktails while waiting to serve.

Equipment

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Method

Joint the chicken into breasts and legs, leaving the legs on the bone and keeping the skin on. Place in a deep roasting tray with the vegetables and herbs and cover completely in the vegetable oil. Cook in the oven for 2 hours and 30 minutes, then set aside to cool

Meanwhile, prepare the Pisco prunes. Place the prunes in a small pan and pour over enough Pisco to cover, then bring up to the boil over a medium heat. Set the Pisco alight to flambé the alcohol, then remove from the heat and allow the flames go out. Cool completely, then transfer the prunes and liquor to a sealed container

For the achiote oil, toast the seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat, ensuring they do not burn. Once toasted and aromatic add the oils to the pan and remove from the heat. Allow to infuse for an hour or until the oil has turned a vibrant red-orange colour. Strain the oil into a bottle to store, reserving the seeds for further batches if desired

50g of dried achiote seeds

250ml of vegetable oil

50ml of extra virgin olive oil

5

Once the chicken has cooled, remove the meat from the tray and discard the oil, vegetables and herbs. Remove the skin and set aside, shredding the meat and discarding the bones. Layer the shredded meat tightly in a 2cm deep tray and drizzle over a little more oil

6

Arrange the pieces of reserved skin over the top and sprinkle over a pinch of rock salt. Wrap the tray tightly in cling film and place a slightly smaller tray on top with a weight (or pot of water) on top. Transfer to the fridge and leave to press overnight

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line a deep baking tray with baking paper

8

To make the yellow cuzco corn, begin by preparing a soffritto base. Add the vegetable oil to a wide, heavy-bottomed pan and place over a medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrot and celery and cook for 15–20 minutes until soft, then weight out 250g of soffritto and discard the rest

Return the soffritto to the pan and add the sweetcorn, salt and sugar. Continue to cook over a medium heat until the sweetcorn starts to caramelise, then stir in the milk and continue to cook for 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced. Add in the cream and allow to reduce again, then remove from the heat and leave to cool for 15 minutes

Blitz the corn mixture with a stick blender, gradually adding in the flour and egg yolk to thicken until it forms a texture similar to parfait, adding a dash more cream if too thick. Spread the mixture across the lined baking tray and cover with foil, baking 50 minutes until set. Remove and leave to cool in the tin, refrigerating until ready to serve

For the huancaina sauce, add the oil to a pan and place over a gentle heat. Add 8 of the yellow chillies (reserving 1 for later), the onion and garlic and cook very gently for 20–30 minutes until very soft, but without colour – the oil should confit rather than fry. Once soft strain the chillies and onion, reserving the oil, and leave to cool before use

Meanwhile, prepare the pachamanca sauce. Bring a small pan of water to the boil over a high heat and add the dried ají panca chillies. Blanch for 2–3 minutes and drain, repeating this process with clean water twice more to reduce the heat of the chillies

After the last blanch, drain the chillies from the water and add to a blender with all the other ingredients. Blend together to form a smooth paste, adding a little more water if too thick. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve to ensure it is completely smooth, then decant into a sealed container or bottle and reserve until ready to serve

To finish the huancaina sauce, blitz the confit chillies and onion to a smooth paste, adding as much of the reserved oil as needed. Add the remaining chilli, the evaporated milk, feta cheese and salted crackers and blitz again to create a smooth sauce. Check the seasoning, then transfer to a squeezy bottle and keep in the fridge until ready to serve

When ready to serve, preheat a grill to high. Remove the pressed chicken and set cuzco corn from the fridge and cut each into rectangular portions. Place both the chicken and corn pieces under the hot grill until warm through, crisp and golden

16

Meanwhile, roughly whisk the ricotta (or queso fresco) until whipped and thick and transfer to a piping bag

To serve, divide the chicken and corn pieces between plates and pipe lines of ricotta across the corn slices. Dress the plate with spoonfuls of the pachamanca and huancaina sauces and arrange a line of marinated prunes over the top. Garnish with pea shoots and a drizzle of achiote oil